Archduke Karl listened attentively to the reports of his attendants, he listened very carefully, and sometimes he would interrupt the other party to ask some questions, and then motioned to continue.

After listening to the report of the attendant, the Grand Duke stroked his rough chin and paced slowly.

"Your Highness, I seem to have seen your aunt and Princess Alexandra as I left," the attendant remembered something, "and they seem to be near the Earl's house." ”

"Yes," said the archduke's eyes, a hint of disgust, "my aunt has always been unwilling, she has been against my father since a long time ago, and now she is against me. ”

"Your Highness, perhaps you should send her to the convent instead of just banishing her to the realm," the attendant whispered instigating, "but it's not too late, she's leaving Caniola for good." ”

"Are you saying she's going to be a hostage to the Sultan," Archduke Karl shook his head, "It's not that simple, although I hope she leaves quickly, but being a hostage to someone else is always unpleasant, and it's not really safe," he said, glancing at his attendant, "Don't forget that Tzepes of Transylvania also used to be a hostage to the Ottomans, but when his father and brother were dead, he was able to return to Transylvania and inherit the territory." ”

The attendant immediately shut his mouth, and he watched the hunched Grand Duke walk slowly in front of him, and after a while he suddenly stopped.

"Did you notice their expressions, were they happy or frustrated?"

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, I just saw them from afar, and I didn't notice that much." The attendant replied with some trepidation that the Grand Duke punished those who did something wrong, and at this time he even regretted a little bit of reporting the matter.

"Oh, it's nothing," Carl said in a rare way not to blame the attendants, and he waved his hand casually as if to put the matter aside, "get ready, since you're going to invite the Count, you'll have to do it nicely, but remember it's just a private party, so the atmosphere should be comfortable, and you need to find something to make everyone happy, you know, go ahead and do it." ”

The Grand Duke waved his hand away, and then sat down and shook his body slightly with his fingers against his lips, his eyes blazing, and his hunchback became more protruding because he lowered his head, like a beast hidden under a stone waiting for an opportunity to pounce on its prey.

"Let me see why you're here, what you want, and what you can give me." Carl muttered to himself slowly.

The meeting with the two princesses did not change Alexander's mind, although the two Alexandra vaguely revealed that they wanted to be helped, and even the eldest Alexandra hinted that they would be converted in exchange, but this surprised Alexander slightly, but did not impress him.

If he was a devout Catholic, he would have already acceded to the princess's request by this time, because if he could convert the lord of a region and her people to Catholicism, he might be canonized in the future.

But Alexander didn't care about this, after all, a title that might take years after death was meaningless, and he also knew very well that in a few years, with the rise of Martin Luther and his Protestantism, a great schism that would completely divide the Western Catholic world would sweep through Europe, and it would not make much practical sense to encourage the conversion of a small territory in the Balkan principality with this near-fatal blow.

Of course, the most important thing is that he has just accepted the invitation of the Grand Duke, and he will not easily bet on either side until he knows what kind of promise the Grand Duke will make.

Alexander had decided to leave a way out for the future at Caniola, given the unsettling aggressiveness of the Ottomans, and considering that Sofia might be in deep trouble, Alexander felt that although he did not want to face a man of genius like Bayezette, he should at least do something to delay his attack on Bucharest.

After all, when the Sultan did come to Bucharest, it was unknown whether he would be able to get Sophia out of that big trouble.

The nobles who were ready to raise the banner of rebellion in the name of the Greek princess were unlikely to allow him to take their "Joan of Arc" with him easily, so in order to calmly run away from Bucharest with his wife, he also had to do something to delay the Sultan's advance.

Just thinking that he still had to mix into the vortex of the Balkans, Alexander was inevitably a little unwilling.

The meeting with the Grand Duke was in a hunting log house not far from Alexander's residence.

The wooden house is not small, with several rooms of different sizes, and the whole house is made of logs, the wood is obviously taken from the forest not far away, and the bark on the outer walls is still peeled off, and the appearance of the house is mottled and rugged from a distance.

The floor of the hunting lodge was raised and there was a clanging sound when you walked on it, a large hole had been dug in the ground in the middle of the lobby, and red coals were burning in a large stone furnace.

A large tin pot rested on the hearth, and the boiling water in it couldn't stop gurgling, but a pungent smell came from the pot, obviously not ordinary boiling water was boiling inside.

Because the cabin was hot, Karl, who was sitting by the hearth, wore only a simple thin robe, and when he saw Alexander walking in, he did not stand up to greet him, but beckoned him to sit down as well.

"You should try this," Karl took a hard sip of the hookah, then pushed another smoking device in front of Alexander, who was seated, "I've added something else to it, and I promise you it will be more enjoyable than the Ottoman hookah." ”

Alexander took a curious breath, and immediately choked on the strange spicy smell that rushed straight to the top of his head.

"Haha......" The Grand Duke let out a vengeful sneer, patting his knee vigorously, and after a while he handed over the wine that had been prepared next to him.

"Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to poison," Carl explained, and then laughed bitterly at himself, "Caniola can't afford to do that now." ”

Alexander nodded, took the wine and took a sip, and the slightly cool sweet and sour wine quickly calmed down the discomfort caused by the strange smell of the hookah.

"I have a lot to offer you," Karl suddenly turned to the point, "where your army needs to be supplied and repaired, and if you can get the help of the locals, you can have loyal guides and sources, think about it." ”

"And what about you, what do you hope for?" Alexander looked at Karl, "You know that this will only slow down the advance of the Ottomans, on the contrary, it will cause you and Caniola a lot of trouble, the Sultan probably won't have that much patience to listen to your explanation, so tell me what you want." ”

No one does something for someone else for no reason, and the purpose of doing so is always accompanied by some kind of reward and need, even if it is just to satisfy a certain sense of vanity in the heart.

Alexander knew that it might be strange to think so, but it was actually true, even for those who sacrificed themselves for the sake of their faith, which was actually a spiritual necessity.

"I need to negotiate terms with the Sultan." Archduke Karl was very honest about his purpose.

Alexander nodded slightly in understanding, he knew that this might not be the whole intention of the Grand Duke, but it should be like this.

"So while I can help you, you need to 'take' or even 'rob' it yourself," Karl looked at Alexander, "I'm still your enemy, and I'm going to have a conflict with you because you support my aunt and fiancée, and you know very well that it's just a cooperation between us, and I don't know what will happen in the future." ”

"Let me be clear, you want our presence to be an important and useful proof that you can prove yourself to the Sultan, so that you can at least retain enough power and not be replaced by the Sultan's people, and once your goal is achieved, our previous agreement will be nullified, and then you will work with the Sultan to eliminate us, right?"

"Maybe you'd have already left Caniola by then, so there won't be anything that will happen next." Karl didn't answer directly, but the meaning was clear.

Alexander narrowed his eyes slightly, he looked seriously at the person sitting across from him, and he couldn't help but admit that he was really a little impressed by his "honesty" to this person.

"So what do I have to gain by doing this for you, you should know very well that I did not come only to resist the infidels."

Now that everyone has said it, there is no need to hide it anymore.

"Oh, the Vatican is going to call a new crusader, and the Pope has issued an edict to call up the nobles of Europe," Karl said as Alexander had said, and then his face sank, "You know, no one believes what you say, and now everyone is not so stupid anymore." ”

"But you need your people to believe it, don't you," Alexander said unfazed by Karl's mockery, "and you also need to make this lie a reality, only then can you be important in front of the Sultan." ”

"That's true, I will use all means to keep Caniola, which my ancestors left me, and I can't let my inability perish Caniola in my generation."

Looking at the eyes of Grand Duke Karl staring at the firelight, Alexander could understand the man's mind somewhat.

It's just that the benefits that should be demanded still have to be wanted, although he himself is actually thinking about how to delay the pace of the Sudan's advance.

"There's nothing to do with Caniola," said Archduke Karl in a whispered to himself, but then he looked up and a strange smile appeared on his face, "but there are some places, such as in the south of Caniola, where there are large tracts of land and resources, and if you are willing to take risks for God's sake, I can help you enough." ”

Alexander's eyes gradually turned cold, and at this point he would have been a little stupid if he didn't understand Carl's intentions.

What was the southern part of Caniola, and if he remembered correctly, it was that a large area of land had been controlled by the Ottomans, and Bosnia.

Bosnia, which was occupied by the Ottomans and ruled brutally back in the time of Mehmed II, has a wealth of resources that all its neighbors would envy.

Because of his almost endless resources, Mehmed II did not hesitate to wage two successive wars, and finally defeated the then Bosnian Balamand dynasty 40 years ago, taking the opportunity to occupy most of the Bosnian land.

The fall of Bosnia was sensational a few decades ago, and it was the capture of Bosnia that opened the door to Belgrade by Mohammed II.

It's just that the Sultan at that time never imagined that his pace of world conquest would stop at Belgrade.

The newly occupied Bosnia was rife with uprisings and riots, which apparently greatly affected the army of Mehmed II, who was fighting on the front lines.

Poor supplies kept the Sultan's army in a constant battle with an enemy who had access to adequate supplies and a constant supply of troops, and when the Sultan was wounded and had to retreat, he was attacked along the way.

Among them, in Bosnia, the Ottomans almost fell into the "sea of people's war."

It was only as the occupation lasted longer and the Bosnian resistance became weaker and weaker, and the Bosnians, who had hoped to be liberated by their Christian brothers, became disillusioned, while the Ottoman rule in Bosnia gradually strengthened.

These were, of course, decades ago, and now most of Bosnia's lands are firmly in the hands of the Ottomans, except for a few parts of the north where control is not strong enough.

It was for this reason that Bayezid II decided to take a long but reliable route to Bucharest rather than take the Bulgarian shortcut, which was not safe enough.

But now that Karl had opened his mouth to encourage himself to invade Bosmea, Alexander really looked at this man a little differently.

"Are you hinting at my invasion of Bosnia, Grand Duke?"

"It's just a suggestion," Carl didn't intend to deny it, he put the jug of the pipe into the tin pot and filled it with piping hot cigarette water, took a puff, and then choked on the pungent smell and coughed and even shed tears, "This tastes so good, why don't you want to order it again?" ”

Seeing that Alexander only glanced at the hookah in his hand, Karl smiled: "There are still some places in the north that are not controlled by the Ottomans, these places are not only rich in resources, but most importantly, there are many fugitive nobles who fled there, and many of them want to retake Bosnia, and the descendants of the Bauraman royal family are looking for help everywhere, isn't this very useful to you?" ”

"Archduke, if I'm not mistaken, you are also included in all this help, right?" Alexander asked in an indifferent tone.

"The people of the Bauraman family did look for me, but we all know that I myself am under threat from the Sultan, and Caniola is not even allowed to have an armed force of more than 30 people, so I can't do anything about their request."

"Your idea is good," Alexander said coldly, "do you want me to expand your territory in Bosnia?" ”

"I just hope you can make me more important," Karl corrected, "this condition is not harsh, you want to be rewarded, and I can provide you with supplies and camps, your army is relatively safe in northern Bosnia, as long as you don't go too deep you can even do a big job there, and once the Bosnian Ottomans really send an army, if you can't stay in Northern Bosnia, you can go straight back to Kaniola, of course I don't know what you're doing, and as you said before, You must not act in the name of having anything to do with Caniola,"

"Do you want me to pretend to be a robber or a bandit?"

"Or it might be better to simply claim that the Vatican sent troops," Karl squeezed a smile at Alexander, "the Bosnians of the north will be happy to hear this, knowing that they have been waiting for their brothers in Christendom to save them for so long that a little hope is enough to light the fire in their hearts." ”

Alexander shook his head slightly, it was not that he did not believe these words of Archduke Karl, but that he did not trust this man.

He believed that Karl did want to use his power to show the Sultan that he was important, but he also believed that just as he decided to sacrifice the old nobleman of Caniola in order to get rid of his immobile expression, he could betray himself in the next moment if he needed to.

It's just that North Bossimia is a very attractive place.

As Karl said, Bosnia is rich in resources, in addition to important deposits of copper, iron, lead and tin, there are huge reserves of coal and the largest salt mine in Europe.

Owning these things was far more important than capturing a few large cities, and most of those resources were now in the hands of the Ottomans, who were using them to prepare for greater expeditions into the interior of Europe.

It's just that the person in front of you is trustworthy? Alexander felt that this was hardly a problem.

It sounded tempting to use Montina's army deep into northern Bosnia to harass and plunder the resources that the Ottomans had prepared for the arrival of the Sultan's army.

The antipathy of the Northern Bosnians towards the Ottomans mentioned by Karl is an important part.

Any invasion would have been reckless without the understanding and support of the locals, and Charles's invasion of Italy had been smooth sailing from the beginning because the populace of the Italian city-states tended to be indifferent to wars between nobles.

In their eyes, this was just a matter of paying taxes for a new lord, but this was clearly not the case in Bosnia.

The clash of different faiths and cultures, the brutal rule of the Ottomans, and the desire for restoration of the old Persian royal family and nobles have complicated the situation in Northern Bosnia.

Is the person in front of you trustworthy?

Alexander asked another question in his heart, and then shook his head slightly with some amusement.

Trusting all kinds of things is precious, but in this day and age, it seems even more luxurious, so why should I be so him.

"Northern Bosnia?" Alexander asked in a low voice, and seeing the excitement in the eyes of the Grand Duke Karl, he continued to ask, "I think you must have some contact with the locals, so tell me what help you are prepared to provide me." ”